Wind threat forces CFA retreat

Firefighters are battling a new grassfire burning south of Ballarat as wild winds cause chaos across Victoria.

The Country Fire Authority issued an urgent threat message to the communities of Dereel, Corindhap and Rokewood after the fire took hold in Swanson Road, Dereel just after 3pm.

A spokeswoman said the CFA had requested two helicopters to assist with the fire, which is estimated to be 10 hectares in size and is burning in a southerly direction.

The threat message warns residents that they may get burning embers on their properties, which they should put out.

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Residents have been urged to activate their fire plans.

Earlier today, firefighters were pulled out of the bush in the Yarra and Warburton valleys after authorities deemed strong winds and falling tree branches deemed too dangerous.

Despite a cool and rainy start to the morning, fire danger remains high across much of Victoria and is tipped to peak about 8pm, when wind changes threaten to open up a broad new fire front in the state's north.

Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Terry Ryan said that although the forecast high of 32 degrees for Melbourne had now been downgraded to 26 degrees, the danger remained very high.

A gusty change is expected to hit Melbourne about 7pm, meaning the Murrundindi area - where bushfire fears are highest - will be hit by the wind change between 8pm and 8.30pm.

But in a rare positive note, Mr Ryan said the wind change could see the Wilsons Promontory fire burn out.

Northerly winds of 50kmh to 60kmh are expected to sweep through the Yarra and Warburton valleys this afternoon, with gusts of up to 100kmh.

Incident controller Anthony Maxwell, from the Department of Sustainability and Environment at Woori Yallock, said the southern edge of the Kilmore East-Murrindindi complex fires had been well-contained overnight but the forecast winds could cause spot fires to leap up to four kilometres ahead of containment lines.

Mr Maxwell said about 330 firefighters were ready to battle any threats but had been pulled away from the fire this morning.

"We've actually got a lot of issues with falling trees and branches and bark so we've pulled our firefighters out of the bush and got them placed strategically up through the highway ready to deal with any spots that we get," he said.

"We decided last night that with the winds forecast it was going to be too dangerous for our fire crews to actually be in on the line.

"Normally our fire crews work with black areas, safe areas that they can retreat to if the fire makes a run or starts to burn but with the falling trees it's just too dangerous to have them in there."

Canberra firefighter David Balfour was killed on February 17 when a tree branch weakened by flames fell on his fire truck as he was connecting a hose to put out spot fires near Marysville.

This morning's light rain has done little to ease the fire threat to communities in the valleys, including Healesville, Yarra Glen, Yarra Junction, Dixons Creek, Woori Yallock and Warburton with many residents already fleeing.

Nearly 250 residents registered at a relief centre in Lilydale last night while 600 in total attended community meetings in Warburton and Healesville.

Mr Maxwell said while the fires were not threatening the communities now, people were "very tense and very concerned" and if they planned to leave should leave early.

He said a south-westerly wind change expected about 6pm would ease the threat to Yarra and Warburton valley residents.

"The winds we're worried about are the north winds pushing any spot fires out of our containment lines heading in a southerly direction, if we get a westerly change that will [push] fire away from any sort of township or private assets," he said.

Authorities warned Victorians not to be complacent about today's bushfire risk despite an oddly cool start to the morning and scattered showers.

As the biggest emergency services operation in Victoria's history got under way, Emergency Services Commissioner Bruce Esplin said winds had already picked up in the north of the state.

Strong winds - forecast to follow the day's late afternoon change - remain of the most concern.

CFA chief officer Russell Rees said Victorians needed to remain alert, despite this morning's rain. He also urged the public to report any suspicious activity after a suspected arsonist lit a fire near bayside Chelsea last night.

"Let's not get carried away with the rain," Mr Rees told an emergency briefing this morning.

"Temperature is irrelevant when your fuel is dry like it is ... we still have a severe day on our hands."

He said the real risk would come with the wind change later this afternoon.